

Are these sentences correct?

>   * クリスマス **に** パソコンを買った。
>   * クリスマス **のとき** パソコンを買った。
>   * クリスマス **のときに** パソコンを買った。
>

What is the difference when using **に、とき, ときに**?


CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-20T02:33:06.570
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2023-11-15T02:50:31.657
2019-12-20T03:06:41.607
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question
particle-に
Usage of　に、とき, ときに


  * At Christmas, I bought...
  * During Christmas, I bought...
  * During Christmas time, I bought...

There aren't any significant differences in the English sentences above.
**They mean the same thing.** Much the same case for your sentences. とき is a
shortened form of ときに, which is a more explicit and completely unambiguous
version of に.

In your scenario, the temporal use of に is extremely clear. But there may be
other situations where the meaning of に (since it's a particle with a lot of
meanings) is a bit ambiguous, and you might want to swap it for ときに **to be
extra clear in communication.**


CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-13T21:04:02.793
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2021-09-13T21:04:02.793
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To add on to Sabrina's answer, depending on the context に alone could be
interpreted as you bought the laptop _for_ Christmas for example. A general
rule to follow is that if you're combining とき with a noun, use 〜のとき and if
it's a verb just use 〜とき. However in casual speech this rule is often broken
of course.

Some examples:

"In my childhood..." : 「私の子ども **のとき** に...」 "When I ride my bike..." : 「自転車に乗る
**とき** に...」

If it's already a period of time you just say に, although Christmas is a noun,
one could argue it's also a period of time, and along with being left out
pretty often in casual speech I understand the confusion. But for formal use,
or just when in doubt, it's safest to go with what Sabrina said and use のとき.

Found a good guide: <https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/toki/>


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2023-11-15T02:50:31.657
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